And It Really Hurts
by Fudgefeather
Summary: Redglare has been hiding something from her fellows among Signless' group, and at first they were content to let it slide - until one day, when it's clear that she can't hide it any longer, and an intervention is needed. Hinted SignlessXRedglare and pale!PsiioniicXRedglare; definite hints and mentions of abuse, and a tiny bit of GHB bashing.


**Edit: Excuse me while I curse heavily. Apparently this did not load and/or save the entire thing previously. Oops.  
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**Anyway there's more now.**

**AN: Aaaaah I honestly don't know where this idea came from, but it was really just fun to write and I just went with it? But it's sort of... I don't know. Shameless fluff/hurt/comfort/OTP feels. Basically. And I guess it's definitely AU-ish as well because there's no other way Redglare would be able to get out of her job otherwise. So. Yeah. Also I think I got a bit lazier towards the end and I think my brain sort of just went into a deadzone as far as vocabulary and ideas and description, so I apologize for that, too.**

**Now, without any further ado... Enjoy.**

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It never failed to vary, forming a ceaseless pattern. Redglare would arrive home. She'd greet everyone, giving them a wide grin, before hurriedly excusing herself and heading towards the bathroom. When she came out, she was usually changed into something else, something that always covered everything except or her face and hands. If any of them were to examine the bathroom after she exited, they would find her uniform soaking in teal-tinged water, the red parts strangely discolored. If they interacted with her, paid attention to her, watched her under a careful eye, they would notice how she winced when she moved, and notice that sometimes, especially if their fingers were touching places she usually enjoyed (like her back), that she would actually whimper and show signs of discomfort.

More than once, Dolorosa had even complained over a strange disappearance of medical supplies; bandages and antiseptic and pain relievers. All these essential medical supplies seemed to disappear while the legislacerator, the law keeper, was in the house. A time when there was surely not a single troll who'd dare try to steal supplies.

Once, Signless even swore he heard low sniffles from behind the closed bathroom door, low murmurs of pain. But no one could be sure. Without confirmation, no one wanted to impose. Redglare kept whatever her problems were to herself, it was clear that she wanted them to respect that.

It wasn't until one day that they finally decided an intervention was necessary.

She had come in, as usual, exhausted. But this time, she did not even attempt to smile, did not even attempt to greet them. Her movements were slow, sluggish, and it was evident that she was in pain. One arm hung limp by her side, and there was something unnatural about the way it was bent that seemed to suggest that it was broken. As soon as she entered and removed her boots, she took off to the one place she always returned to: the bathroom. The click of the lock told them that she was not expecting to exit any time soon.

Of course, it was Signless who set the plan into action. Every fifteen minutes, Disciple was to go by the door and ask if Redglare was all right. If there was no response, Psiioniic was to rip the door off its hinges with his psionic powers just to make sure she hadn't fallen unconscious or worse. If Redglare asked for assistance on one of the times Disciple went past, Dolorosa would come in to finish whatever work needed to be done. Until then, they sat outside, waiting for her to return.

Psiioniic looked rather upset, and it wasn't long until he began berating himself for not having done anything sooner. Signless extended a hand towards his best friend, trying to calm him, but Psiioniic shook his head. "I thought she knew… It's obvious she has a ridiculously huge pale crush on me, but she never seems to _act _on it… I thought she knew I didn't have another morail, that I would gladly have helped and stepped in for her because she needed someone… And if anything bad happens to her because I didn't do anything… well… Nice work. Heh. What a good morail I am. I deserve a pat on the back."

His sarcasm was heavy, and Signless decided not to press. Silence settled over them for a moment, before Signless finally decided to say something. "It's not just you, then… I should have told her I at least cared about her… It may not have been as much as she wanted but… As much as she needs a morail, she also needs a matespirit, and having both her red quadrants unrequited was probably painful…"

"It would certainly be a great mental strain, and would purrobably cause a good deal of anxiety on top of it," Disciple said, returning into the pseudo-kitchen where Psiioniic and Signless had been sitting. Both looked up in surprise at her sudden return, and she merely gave them a smile. "One unrequited red feeling is bad enough. Both quadrants? It's a wonder she didn't break under the weight of it all… poor kitten… No wonder she's been in such a bad state all the time," she murmured, looking back at the door to the bathroom with apparent concern. "I know I just checked on her, but I think I'll try again… Poor thing… she keeps telling me to 'go away', and I can only imagine why… I don't think sending me to check on her was a good idea; she doesn't like me as much as either of you."

She gave a pointed look at Signless, as if to hint that sending the person you blamed for not having a quadrant mate to check on you was probably a very poor idea, and he decided to act on it. "You know, it's been an hour and a half already; you've been past that door six times. Let me try this time."

Disciple let him pass, nodding as he slid by her and into the hallway. As he reached the door, he stopped, hesitating before he rapped on it once, twice, a third time before he was answered. "I've told you, go away!"

"Redglare, it's me," he answered, his voice gentle to try and soothe her worried, frightened self when he could not do anything else. There was a gasp, a sharp, rattling intake of breath as she suddenly realized who she was talking to and that it was not just Disciple coming around again. "S-Signless! I- I'm sorry, I didn't realize-!"

He gave a series of shushing sounds through the door until she fell silent once again. "It doesn't matter; don't worry about it. Just… another fifteen minutes in there to finish up whatever you're doing and then come out, all right?"

"But-!" she began, and sensing a rising protest, Signless cut her off. "Fifteen minutes. No more if you can help it. If you're not out there by then, I'll make sure to come by again. So just come out, whatever state you're in. This has been going on long enough, and it's time someone talked to you about it."

There was a feeling of apprehension behind the door as he turned and left, a low whine that seemed to indicate how frightened she was that what was to follow would end in her being kicked out or removed from his inner circles and thus deprived of the protection she needed right now. The intent, of course, was exactly the opposite.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly, and Signless was afraid he'd have to remind the Neophyte of the deadline when the lock to the bathroom door clicked open, and slowly, she appeared around the corner wearing a mint green hoodie with some odd symbol supposedly depicting the mind upon it. She still appeared to be in pain, and her left arm held the right one tightly above the elbow. The ends of a bandage could be seen under the edge of her sleeve, and it still seemed to be at the wrong angle. Her head was bent down, not willing to meet anyone's eyes, her shoulders were hunched together, and her feet pointed inward, all clear signs that she expected a thorough berating for her behavior.

It was thus a clear surprise to her when she found herself enveloped in the arms of the very person she expected to yell at her. It did not stop her from yelping as his embrace squeezed on her broken arm, and she attempted to lower herself even closer to the ground in a display of submission and not wanting to be harmed. He loosened his grip, shifting to avoid injuring her arm any further, allowing room for Psiioniic to come in and lay a hand on her shoulder. Redglare leaned into Signless, letting him support her slight weight so that she wouldn't have to, and made a low purring noise as Psiioniic started running his hands through her hair, deciding it wasn't worth touching anywhere else if he didn't know where her injuries were and were she would be sensitive. But her eyes were questioning behind her glasses, and it was clear that she did not understand the reason for these sudden attentions. So Signless shifted her about until she was facing him, hands firmly gripping her shoulders, leaning down until he was at eye level with her before asking the most important question of the moment.

"Redglare, how long has this been going on?"

Her head tilted to the side, blinking. "What do you mean?" she asked, and Signless felt his heart drop as he realized that, as much as she wanted to hide her injuries from them, she was being serious when she asked that question. She didn't see anything wrong with having been injured, only with showing them to someone. Her problem had not lay in wanting to conceal abuse, but in general shame at the injuries themselves, and in the pain they caused. Shaking her shoulder slightly, still retained a firm grip, he restated the question. "Redglare, you keep coming back here with new injuries every day. How long has this been going on, and why didn't you tell any of us?!"

His voice had risen drastically by the end of the question, and Redglare shrank down, trying to avoid him as if she thought his yelling meant he was angry with her. "I- it's nothing, really, it's fine, it's completely normal-!" she stammered out, still trying to lower herself and escape any possible anger from Signless. Someone noticed. "Hey. Sign. I think you're scaring her. Let me handle this, okay?"

The quiet words had come from Psiioniic, who was still standing at Redglare's side. He looked thoughtful, almost pained, and Signless nodded at him before stepping back. Psiioniic hesitated for a moment, looking almost uncertain, before grasping both of Redglare's shoulders and leaning down so he was looking her in the eyes. "All right. I think you missed some important speeches. Of Signless'. Because. I'm going to guess these weren't given to you by lowbloods."

A pause, hesitation, before Redglare shook her head, confirming his suspicions, not willing to meet his eyes anymore. Psiioniic gave a low growl and rolled his eyes. "Look. I know. Hemospectrum says that. If they're higher up than you, you have to listen to them. And if they want to hurt you. Then that's supposedly okay? But really. It's really not. Not at all. I mean. It's really just abuse. And it doesn't really matter. That they're higher than you. It's still abuse and Signless is fighting for equality and. No matter what blood color. You don't. You don't deserve that."

His voice was cracking by the end of his impromptu speech, and it was clear that the subject itself was very close to his heart. For a second, he stood there, silently holding her shoulders, before he launched forward and wrapped her into a tight embrace. Again, Redglare yelped as pressure was placed on her injured arm, before she settled down and hugged back. "Now," Psiioniic murmured, leaning back after a moment, "How long has it been going on?"

Yet again, Redglare paused, hanging her head before giving a tiny, almost inaudible answer. "Ever since the transfer," she mumbled, playing with the edge of her hoodie. There was a sharp intake of breath; everyone knew what she meant by the "transfer". The transfer from being one of numerous legislacerators under a highblood, to being the only one in the service of Grand Highblood. And everyone knew only too well how violent and deranged the Grand Highblood was. Psiioniic grimaced, patting her shoulder and starting to back off, not quite sure how to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, Redglare had grown used to at least some of the marginal support provided by holding her shoulders, and she started to crumple and fall. Signless leapt forward to catch her, wrapping his arms under hers and clutching on tightly. She sank against him, staying immobile for a second before turning her head slightly to rub against his chest, seemingly content not to do anything else for the time being. Psiioniic came up and once again laid a hand on her shoulder, and Disciple grinned and started petting Redglare's hair. All the attention seemed to spark something inside Redglare, and she began purring, first quietly, the rumbling growing louder and louder as time passed. Finally, Dolorosa stepped forward.

"I do hate to intrude upon this impromptu snuggling pile, but I would like to inspect Neophyte Redglare's arm."

The tealblood gingerly extended her arm out towards her, and Dolorosa gently pulled back the jacket's sleeve to examine it. "Just as I thought; you have no proper medical knowledge, and, well, it's hard enough with two arms, let alone not having the use of one. You did not set the break properly; come, I'll reset it for you."

With that, she gestured at Signless, and he wordlessly shifted Redglare into his adoptive mother's grasp, letting her support the legislacerator for now. She gave a meaningful tilt of her head at Psiioniic, indicating that it would probably be a good idea for him to accompany them, and the three of them retreated back to the bathroom for further medical examinations.

They returned an hour later, all but carrying Redglare in between them, and she looked, if anything, more exhausted than before. Her arm was now in a sling, and this time the bone seemed to be in its correct position. Her fingertips brushed at the edges of the bandages as she tilted her eyes upwards to look at Signless, still seeming to be withdrawn upon herself. One of the few other differences was that she seemed to be in less pain then before, and the presumed conclusion of those two who had not been present in the room was that she had been given adequate painkillers to dull the pain. Both Signless and Disciple grinned at her, and Signless lifted her slight burden from his mother and best friend, taking her over to the couch and sitting down with her in a nest of blankets he and Disciple had prepared for this purpose. Disciple settled on his right side, playing with Redglare's hair and attempting to convince her to start purring again, while Psiioniic took the left hand side, gently rubbing a hand on Redglare's knee. Within minutes of the added attentions, the warmth, medicine, and already inherent exhaustion seemed to start affecting the legislacerator, and she yawned, looking up at Signless with bleary, half-closed eyes.

"I'm not letting you go back to that," he said finally, thinking aloud, and she blinked, still sleepily trying to keep awake. "But… I'm the spy… And I have to go back; it's my job, I can't just leave…"

Signless gave her a pointed look. "We can always find another spy. You have clearly put your life and health in danger, and I can't let that happen to you. You're a member of my group, Redglare, of my _family._ I can't let you go back if all that's going to happen is you getting abused and beaten, and perhaps even worse! Besides, I highly doubt you'd be very effective at your job with all that blood loss and a broken arm."

The Neophyte finally bowed her head, admitting defeat, before leaning against Signless' stomach and rubbing her head against him, in a silent plea for more attention. He chuckled, before kneading his fingers through her already disheveled hair, which seemed to content her. Noticing how she seemed about ready to drift off at any second, there was a general scurrying to rearrange the blankets and pillows into a more comfortable sleeping pile on the floor. A few scalemates were introduces into the pile as well, following from the logic that Redglare loved the stuffed dragons (Psiioniic's suggestion of computer parts was, however, quickly shot down). Within minutes of her being laid down on the pile, Redglare drifted off, Signless' arms still around her. Psiioniic crashed on the other side of her, deciding aloud that it was a good time to go to sleep. Disciple also curled up at the foot of the pile, against Signless' feet, while Dolorosa took his other side.

And, suddenly, silently, Signless' grip upon Redglare tightened, long after everyone else's steady breathing told him that they too had fallen asleep. He nuzzled into her hair, bringing her as close to him as possible, a protective gesture for someone he cared about very deeply. "Don't worry, young Neophyte," he whispered, even though he knew she couldn't hear while sleeping. "You're safe- finally, completely, safe and sound – here."


End file.
